Our chicken coop fence was completely torn down and we found feathers dragged the whole way up in the woods?

The chicken coup fencing is 12ft high because we also have guinea birds, and whatever knocked it down also kicked the watering buckets a good 6ft away from the coup. The next night we locked them up snug and tight (just in case) by putting boards and other stuff against the doors. However, the next morning the lock on the door had been yanked off and the door was wide open. It looked as if whatever-it-was had jimmied it open and it must have taken it a while to do so. We thought it must have been a bear to knock over everything but I didn't think bears would go to the trouble to do all that work for a chicken (especially two nights in a row). Can someone please let me know what they think it is? We have dogs but they sleep inside, and three very well fed cats that don't even chase mice. So that narrows them out as an option. We have only found three chickens so far but are still searching, and we're thinking about doing a stake out to catch whatever-it-is, otherwise I don't know what else to do but bring them inside! please help!|||Where do you live?





My first thought is a raccoon, possibly a large one. What sort of fencing do you use? If it's chicken wire, get something else, as chicken wire won't keep out anything with even an ounce of strength. Look for Hardware cloth(the heavy-duty, black kind) or galvanized steel wire. The top should be covered, and I would also recommend a deadbolt or some other kind of lock for the coop.





Also, consider getting a game camera and setting it up around your coop. Alternatively, or in addition to that; get a Havaheart trap and put some lightly cooked chicken on it(and possibly sprinkle some of the chicken feathers onto it) and see what might happen into it.





Good luck.|||call police/animal control